Time to sell up and move on Mr Lansdown

[Atyeo's Love Child]

Wish we still could use ’s, IMO needed for OP and many others on this thread.

[Natchfever]

1 hour ago, NickJ said:

That is not the case. After 1982 the maximum that any one individual could own was 25%, a rule deliberately put in place for what was considered to be a lesson learned from the past. 

The original 4 directors (who were also life long fans) owned the majority of the shares between them, but a significant percentage was owned by Mr & Mrs Bristol City Fan.

See above - my description of "fan owned" was lazy wording but nevertheless there were many shareholders each of whom had the literal opportunity for their say at the AGM, which no longer takes place because obviously it would be meaningless.

 

See above for my comments on Bristol City being a fan owned club, which as I say was lazy wording but nevertheless it is the case that before SteveL took control it was impossible for any individual to own more than 25% and there were thousands of other shareholders ranging from £20 to thousands of pounds of shareholdings.

The time frame I took of 15 years was an estimate from memory, clearly I am talking about the time period from when Steve started to take control, which in fact is when he became the largest shareholder, in 2002.

Bristol City Holdings balance sheet showed net assets then of £4m, however that was based on an historic Ashton Gate valuation of £8m, less than its market value. That's quite healthy, unless continued to be run at a loss. The balance sheet only a few years before that was £10m, so clearly from 1982 onwards the directors had managed to run a financially sustainable football club.

Since 2002 the football club has operated at a loss, and there is only one man who can be responsible for that, because he owns the club, nobody else has any say. However from a financial perspective, if I were Steve I wouldn't be too bothered about that, knowing that purchasing Bristol City FC meant that I also purchased Ashton Gate. Purchasing Ashton Gate was the catalyst for Steve to purchase Ashton Vale, on the basis that apparently according to Steve at the time that Ashton Gate was not financially viable - well we all know how that was disproved, and I don't suppose Steve has sleepless nights about Ashton Vale, knowing that it's only time before he gets planning for something there.

The bottom line is I can only repeat I do not questions Steve's integrity but I am fairly confident that Steve would not have pumped money into Bristol City FC if he didn't have the security of the land and the businesses which are being developed on it.

This.

I don't see why flagging that Lansdown isn't the messiah is heresy for some. He has spent lots of money yet fully expects a return on his investment.

That's why anyone seeking him to sell up and exit is plain daft unless someone is prepared to buy the whole shooting match and that includes Bristol Sport plus the value of land holdings. If just the football club then there's zero value save the players because the stadium isn't part of the deal and is used by the rugby club.

I would suggest therefore that there are far better options out there for someone wanting to buy a football club with a big potential fanbase so people should probably forget such ideas for as long as the owner is interested.

[Charlie BCFC]

On 10/08/2020 at 17:24, formerly known as ivan said:

It’s now apparent that despite the talk of recent years, investment in the stadium and on players fees/wages, Mr Lansdown has given up on the promise of the premier league.

Yes he has been great for the club over the years. As above, he has invested greatly. I’ve always had greatly belief in what he was trying to achieve.

That’s all now out the window. As being as close as we are to a decent team breaking into the top 6, all that felt like it was missing  was that quality manager with the know how to get us there.

Today’s soon to be confirmed announcement all but confirms this is now nothing more than hope rather than expectation.

He interests and loyalty lay elsewhere. Many of us had seen for years Johnson wasn’t going to deliver what was required yet he continued to stick by him. Worse than that is who he has chosen to replace him with.

Thanks for the memories but time to hand over the reigns to some willing to do what is needed to get us over that line.

Heard what happened to Wigan. Had a great owner who loved the club and sold it on to people who told lies and put them in administration. Be careful for what you wish for

[BigAl&Toby]

On 11/08/2020 at 13:10, Mr Popodopolous said:

@BigAl&Toby

With respect to SL and the club, I read your posts with interest. 

I know AG, assume the training ground, Wickes too? Which other freeholds are there? You're clearly across this more than me!

Surely too until such a time that they are realised, they are in a sense paper assets/gains?

@Mr Popodopolous this is how I see it - having had experience of people like Mr L in a past life......

1. They never invest anything unless they know how and when they’ll get a return.

2. How much they expect, when and how is down to their own requirements.

3. If BCFC or Mr L or Bristol Sport or Pula wanted to develop AV or fought so long and so hard to do so then they must have had a vested interest in doing so. Back to Points 1 & 2......

4. So AV “failed” in so much as permission was refused to redevelop it in the way that was publicly stated. Ever wonder if Mr L was riding his Trojan and really only ever wanted to redevelop Ashton Gate? 

5. Will never be able to prove real (estate) intentions or who’s pulling on the reigns of the Trojan Horse - that’s why we have ultimate beneficial owners - but in my life experience that’s how it legally works.

6. Have a read of this: http://www.thevale-northsomerset.co.uk/index.html

Hmmmmm. Makes me think someone’s playing the long game and ultimately the ultimate beneficial owner won’t be shedding a tear when Wimpey or Marvin or anyone else start to knock on the door......

[Realist]

On 10/08/2020 at 17:43, RedRoss said:

So he's upgraded our stadium considerably, invested a 100 million plus, is building us the best training facilities as we speak and the last 5 years we've broken our transfer fees incoming and outgoing by a large margin near on year after year.. all out of his own pocket. Unfortunately our ticket money doesn't cover a piss in the ocean in respect to his investment and he doesn't care at all?

You can rightly argue his bad decisions but his intentions, that's just bullshit.

You want us to go into the merry-go-round of dodgy chairman or asset sellers? Do you notice how many clubs get destroyed and are sent into administration each year?

Grass ain't always greener so be careful what you wish for.

Exactly but there is no reasoning with some people

[Chairman Mao]

This is a very very dumb topic. The most stupid thread I have read on here. Aside from pasted quotes from certain LJ pressers in the 16-17 season.

Thanks to Lansdown we have a world class stadium, new training ground on the way, excellent academy and good squad. Name a better owner in the division who has lasted for over a decade with the club. 

Idiots. 

[Natchfever]

1 hour ago, Chairman Mao said:

This is a very very dumb topic. The most stupid thread I have read on here. Aside from pasted quotes from certain LJ pressers in the 16-17 season.

Thanks to Lansdown we have a world class stadium, new training ground on the way, excellent academy and good squad. Name a better owner in the division who has lasted for over a decade with the club. 

Idiots. 

Steve Gibson. Peter Coates.

[BigAl&Toby]

2 hours ago, Chairman Mao said:

This is a very very dumb topic. The most stupid thread I have read on here. Aside from pasted quotes from certain LJ pressers in the 16-17 season.

Thanks to Lansdown we have a world class stadium, new training ground on the way, excellent academy and good squad. Name a better owner in the division who has lasted for over a decade with the club. 

Idiots. 

And Chairman as a football club we’ve at best stagnated, at worst gone backwards.

You might like the occasional cup run and your manager swinging a ball boy round his hips like he’s on Strictly.

This idiot? I want to see real and tangible progress and success on the pitch. Before the grim reaper tells me my time is up......

Idiot? Yep. That’s me.

[Realist]

9 minutes ago, BigAl&Toby said:

And Chairman as a football club we’ve at best stagnated, at worst gone backwards.

You might like the occasional cup run and your manager swinging a ball boy round his hips like he’s on Strictly.

This idiot? I want to see real and tangible progress and success on the pitch. Before the grim reaper tells me my time is up......

Idiot? Yep. That’s me.

Don't we all, fully understand. Not sure we've gone backwards though tbh. Lots of teams are these days though for sure

[Realist]

22 minutes ago, BigAl&Toby said:

And Chairman as a football club we’ve at best stagnated, at worst gone backwards.

You might like the occasional cup run and your manager swinging a ball boy round his hips like he’s on Strictly.

This idiot? I want to see real and tangible progress and success on the pitch. Before the grim reaper tells me my time is up......

Idiot? Yep. That’s me.

Plus I think Lee started to believe his own hype and started over complicating simple decisions 

[eardun]

48 minutes ago, BigAl&Toby said:

And Chairman as a football club we’ve at best stagnated, at worst gone backwards.

You might like the occasional cup run and your manager swinging a ball boy round his hips like he’s on Strictly.

This idiot? I want to see real and tangible progress and success on the pitch. Before the grim reaper tells me my time is up......

Idiot? Yep. That’s me.

Have we stagnated/gone backwards though? We have regularly yo yo’d between the championship and league one since the Alan Dicks era. Being a stable championship club does not feel like a backwards step compared to that. 

[RedHienz]

1 hour ago, BigAl&Toby said:

And Chairman as a football club we’ve at best stagnated, at worst gone backwards.

You might like the occasional cup run and your manager swinging a ball boy round his hips like he’s on Strictly.

This idiot? I want to see real and tangible progress and success on the pitch. Before the grim reaper tells me my time is up......

Idiot? Yep. That’s me.

Failing to see how we have gone backwards..

Last 3 relegations have been backwards.

Watching as lose with O Driscoll was backwards.

Finishing top half of the champ, err not quite the doom an gloom we have had before, sure crap football but we are in a much better position then most.

[AJgEEZa]

I did call for a boycott last week but not against Steve, against Mark and maybe even Jon for being easily influenced and weak. He is the chairman and it was blatant from his interview that he wasn’t sure about all of this. Steve has done nothing but good for this Football club. He got sold something and bought it, when your son listens to Mark, he then listened. It’s understandable. He trusts Jon but he is being misadvised. It’s Mark that needs to go!! That said, several players said things yesterday that made me think a little differently, not that Hughton wasn’t the right choice but that maybe Lee had lost them a bit. They all seemed upbeat about the change. I know that is normal but if you watch the vids released, it seemed legit.

[Sweeneys Penalties]

sell the club? or sell Bristol Sport? Either way, I don't see a rush of buyers during a Global Downturn. I'm also remember the day when we would have fruitlessly screamed for a wealthy owner.....and now we have one. The last few weeks have been frustrating and there's a LOT of making up to do from the PR part of the Club, but the bloke in the channel islands is the bloke that has kept this club going, invested in it and improved it as a whole. The product on the pitch is frustrating, but it;s not as if SL hasnt backed the manager financially. It may well be a lengthy journey but IMHO, BCFC is in a very healthy state despite the frustrations 

[maxjak]

Without Steve Lansdown this club would be languishing in the 1st Division, in a rundown stadium.........what ever you may think of the man, it cannot be disputed that he has poured millions of his own money into this club, without an ulterior motive.  He is rich, he loves this club, and he does his very best to make it successful. We are extremely fortunate to have a benefactor who continues to put his hand in his pocket to keep this club competitive, anyone who is unable to recognise this is either ignorant, misguided or plainly stupid.

[Sweeneys Penalties]

1 hour ago, maxjak said:

Without Steve Lansdown this club would be languishing in the 1st Division, in a rundown stadium.........what ever you may think of the man, it cannot be disputed that he has poured millions of his own money into this club, without an ulterior motive.  He is rich, he loves this club, and he does his very best to make it successful. We are extremely fortunate to have a benefactor who continues to put his hand in his pocket to keep this club competitive, anyone who is unable to recognise this is either ignorant, misguided or plainly stupid.

some (including me) loved the old East End moshing pit and the generally unhealthy state of the stadium. SL transformed that image into a stadium worthy of the 21st Century.  I loved the old place, but time moves on. 

[Hxj]

Ah the good old days!

I sincerely hope that that is the right video - I have some interesting ones

 

[E.J.Thribb]

5 hours ago, Natchfever said:

Steve Gibson. Peter Coates.

Let’s play devil’s advocate and say we were Boro and Stoke fans. 
 

Gibson: Certain folk here would’ve gone ballistic over the appointment of Woodgate, gone into meltdown as relegation potentially loomed and no doubt lambast how we’d gone from the UEFA Cup final 14 years ago to a mediocre outfit in the second tier. 
 

Coates: Probably would’ve faced criticism for going from safety of premier league mid-table to championship relegation scrap. A few on here moan about us sponsored by Dunder, God knows how they’d react with Coates’ fingers in the Bet365 pie...

[Sweeneys Penalties]

15 minutes ago, Hxj said:

Ah the good old days!

I sincerely hope that that is the right video - I have some interesting ones

 

what a beautiful clip

[NickJ]

6 minutes ago, Hxj said:

Ah the good old days!

I sincerely hope that that is the right video - I have some interesting ones

 

Why do I get the feeling you have an agenda.

A video of 1979 Ashton Gate. Really? And if it wasn’t  for hero Steve we’d still be playing in that stadium? 
 

Put a video of all 92 football league 1979 stadiums on here, they’d all look like that. 

Repeat. Around the time Steve took control, or shortly afterwards, the football club had permission for a 30,000 stadium - development of Williams and East End - and had grants in place to fund a significant element of the cost. Plus the fans were sold “Buy a Brick”. It was all a done deal. Yet it didn’t happen. We could have had an updated stadium about 10 years before Steve took it on himself to take total control of the club. In that sense Bristol City were held back by 10 years. 
 

Before Steve we were a club that yo yo’d between divisions 2 and 3, except for two spells in division 1. Under almost 20 years of Steve we are a club that yo yo’s between divisions 2 and 3,  and no time at all in division 1.

Steve is no better and no worse, in that sense, where it matters, than any other owner in the club’s history. 
 

I don’t get the notion that he’s some sort of saviour. 

[maxjak]

27 minutes ago, Hxj said:

Ah the good old days!

I sincerely hope that that is the right video - I have some interesting ones

 

It's like a sad landscape from a dystopian future..........and how about the irony of the dreadful cigarette ads plastered around the ground?  Some may call it nostalgic?............I call it pheckin depressing?

[Red-Robbo]

14 hours ago, italian dave said:

. We've always been owned by a small number of large shareholders - some of whom may have been fans too, but that's still the case. 

 

Here. I have a few shares. I'd rather be called a stockily built shareholder if you don't mind. Been working on it during the lockdown.

[Hxj]

My only agenda is accuracy.

I spent many a happy Saturday in the School Boy enclosure in front of the Dolman Stand and then the East End.

The video brought back the atmosphere (and the stench of urine).

I have to say that the new stadium is better than the old.

[NickJ]

9 hours ago, Hxj said:

My only agenda is accuracy.

I spent many a happy Saturday in the School Boy enclosure in front of the Dolman Stand and then the East End.

The video brought back the atmosphere (and the stench of urine).

I have to say that the new stadium is better than the old.

Fair enough, I'm a stickler for factual accuracy myself.

When you take all the facts, yes facilities have progressed, it would have happened with or without Steve, the facilities now belong to Steve rather than a much wider fan base, and Steve's involvement has made us no worse no better than at any time in our history.

[Sweeneys Penalties]

meanwhile...over at Derby....ever had the impression they've overreached themselves

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bristol-citys-championship-rivals-derby-4418826

[Kid in the Riot]

@NickJ I've had a flashback to a Q&A at AG when I'm sure SL reassured the audience that Bristol City FC and Ashton Gate Ltd could not be split as they were both held under one company, Bristol City Holdings. 

Since then however, to further complicate matters, Bristol City Holdings is now under another umbrella company Pula, based in Guernsey. I think this is also an umbrella company for Bristol Sport.

Then, believe it or not, Pula is held under another company based in the Caribbean (Bermuda or Bahamas I think). 

Where Bristol Bears fit into all of this, I'm not sure. 

[Bristol Oil Services]

23 hours ago, Charlie BCFC said:

Heard what happened to Wigan. Had a great owner who loved the club and sold it on to people who told lies and put them in administration. Be careful for what you wish for

Yes, well said.

Also, heard what happened in Scotland? Had a train trundling along, came off the tracks! People died. Be careful what mode of transport you opt for (ie, don't get on trains. They crash).

[real_bristol]

Is there a graph on here showing our league position since the Lansdown(s) took a majority stake?

Please re-post if there is.

[maxjak]

17 hours ago, NickJ said:

Why do I get the feeling you have an agenda.

A video of 1979 Ashton Gate. Really? And if it wasn’t  for hero Steve we’d still be playing in that stadium? 
 

Put a video of all 92 football league 1979 stadiums on here, they’d all look like that. 

Repeat. Around the time Steve took control, or shortly afterwards, the football club had permission for a 30,000 stadium - development of Williams and East End - and had grants in place to fund a significant element of the cost. Plus the fans were sold “Buy a Brick”. It was all a done deal. Yet it didn’t happen. We could have had an updated stadium about 10 years before Steve took it on himself to take total control of the club. In that sense Bristol City were held back by 10 years. 
 

Before Steve we were a club that yo yo’d between divisions 2 and 3, except for two spells in division 1. Under almost 20 years of Steve we are a club that yo yo’s between divisions 2 and 3,  and no time at all in division 1.

Steve is no better and no worse, in that sense, where it matters, than any other owner in the club’s history. 
 

I don’t get the notion that he’s some sort of saviour. 

Yep....Give or take around £200 mill .....your right.   No he's not a saviour, he is an essential benefactor, without whom we'd be playing in a decrepid stadium in the lower reaches of the football league

[bristolmoose]

17 hours ago, maxjak said:

It's like a sad landscape from a dystopian future..........and how about the irony of the dreadful cigarette ads plastered around the ground?  Some may call it nostalgic?............I call it pheckin depressing?

Say what you like, I'm gagging for an Embassy No1 now and I don't even smoke.